Danielle Ryan

Dublin-based freelance writer

“In reality, Russia is as safe for American tourists (or any other tourists, for that matter) as any other European country is — and the fact that a former official who really should know better is perpetuating the myth of deep, dark, dangerous Russia is utterly ridiculous.”

Former U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul earned a rebuke from the RT op-ed section after tweeting the arrest of a U.S. citizen for espionage changed his view on travelling to Russia. While the nature of Whelan’s activities is unclear, to claim that Russia is as safe as any European stop beggars belief.

WADA’s president did not say he was disappointed “at the organization’s failure.” On the contrary, he was speaking of Russia’s non-compliance with WADA demands. The organization’s inspectors did not “fail to access” Moscow laboratory data, but were denied access by Russian authorities.

Fact-checkers, experts and investigative reporters have repeatedly exposed the Russian president’s false statements, as well as his attempts to paint “blissful pictures” over the gloomy reality of Putin’s nearly two decades-long rule.

Vladimir Putin

President, Russia

“All my chefs are employed by the Federal Guard Service. They are servicemen holding different ranks. I have no other chefs. For your information, we do not outsource this job, and the Federal Guard Service employees do all the work.”

The Russian Embassy in Canada has tried to tie the conspiracy case of Maria Butina to the Me Too movement against sexual harassment and assault. The embassy said her conviction shows the “bias and hypocritical” nature of western feminism. But Butina’s prosecution has no link to #metoo or feminism.

After testing the Avangard hypersonic glider, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the rocket system is “invulnerable” to interception. And while the Avangard has stoked fears some corners, Putin’s claim it is impervious to existing and prospective missile-defense systems is unverified.

Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s claim that the U.S. “poured” too much money into the coup in Ukraine appears to be based on a mischaracterization about the total foreign aid given to Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union

Vladimir Putin

President of the Russian Federation

“Now about Wagner and what people are doing. Everyone must stay within the law, everyone. … We can ban private security activity in general, but one has only has to do this and, I think, they will come to you with a large number of petitions, demanding protection of this labor market. We have almost a million people working there. If this Wagner group is violating something, then the Prosecutor General’s Office should give a legal assessment.”

Wagner -- which has enjoyed support from the Russian defense establishment and is most likely a creation of the Russian Defense Ministry -- is in violation of the Russian law banning mercenary activity.

Vladimir Putin

Russian President

“... We know the largest American base has existed on Okinawa for a long time, for a decade now … the Governor of Okinawa is against ... its expansion. He's against it ... And the people who live there are against it.”

Okinawa hosts 32 U.S. military facilities – the highest concentration of the American military bases in Japan. The local government and population oppose the presence of those bases, citing environmental pollution and economic losses.

Vladimir Putin

Russian President

“Sirkpal, thank God, is alive. Nevertheless, there are a bunch of sanctions against Russia …This is a politicized Russophobic approach. It is a pretext, nothing more than a pretext to organize another attack on Russia.”

While Vladimir Putin claimed that Western reaction to the Skripal poisoning was merely a pretext to contain Russia, there is considerable evidence pointing to Russia. Putin made a similar claim regarding Russia's annexation and occupation of the Crimean peninsula.

Vladimir Putin

President of the Russian Federation

"We should treat the representatives of all religions in the same way - this is true, but still, it is also necessary to take into account the country and the society in which we live. True, this does not mean at all that we should include representatives of religious communities in some destructive, or even in terrorist organizations. Of course, this is complete nonsense, you need to carefully deal with it. Here I agree with you."

Incidents of state persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia have been recorded as far back as 2007. The Russian Supreme Court designated the church as an “extremist organization” in April 2017. Is it really possible that Vladimir Putin knew nothing about this?